Q&A with Rutgers coach Mike Rice

Intensity, energy, urgency. These are staples in Mike Rice’s vocabulary, and they crop up again and again as the first-year Rutgers men’s basketball coach talks about his program.

With just nine scholarship players on his roster but a blockbuster recruiting haul on the way, it’s easy to look past the 2010-11 season and focus on the Scarlet Knights’ future. But there’s a season to play and Rice is hoping to lay the foundation, using his three favorite words as the cornerstone.

On the eve of the first practice, Rice discussed the season at hand, his coaching philosophy and the Scarlet Knights’ recruiting splash in a wide-ranging Q&A.

Q. One of your main missions since taking the job has been to change the attitude of Rutgers basketball. How have you gone about doing that and what kind of results are you seeing so far?

A. “We’ve been creating a sense of urgency and an energy with our players. I think so far so good. It’s little things like being on time and going as hard as you can in the weight room. Creating that energy and intensity was the first order of business, and then it’s making sure we bring in the most talented individuals who I think will represent Rutgers as best as possible.

Q. What players have stepped up to become leaders for you?

A. It varies on a daily basis but it’s three guys, James Beatty, Jonathan Mitchell and Mike Coburn. They’re our captains. It’s hard because our drills are new to them. Keeping them off balance and being in chaos is something I want to do to my teams. Usually the older guys know what’s going on and know how I’m manipulating things. Right now they’re going through that a little bit but they certainly are the guys leading and giving the energy I’m asking for. Dane Miller probably is somebody who I challenge the most and someone who had to who had trouble the first couple of weeks. But he’s certainly improved as far as being locked in and giving everything he has in every drill.

Q. What do you think of Dane’s upside?

A. Dane’s natural instincts are incredible. He gets himself in trouble when he thinks he has to do too much, but athletically and talent-wise, instinctively, he’s a very talented individual. He lacks focus and consistency in things he does and that’s something we butt heads about on a daily basis.

Q. Word is you’ve been pushing the bigs particularly hard in preseason workouts. Is that true, and why?

A. Because I know what they’re in for. Our frontcourt will be overmatched anyway physically and talent-wise in the Big East on a nightly basis. But you don’t have to give in; they don’t know what’s in your heart and in your head and the amount of fight you have. If we fight every single possession we’ll do just fine. I’ve got to make our guys aware of what they’re up against night-in, night-out as far as size and strength and maybe even talent, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to back down even one inch.

Q. What player or players have surprised you the most and will fans find to be most improved this year?

A. James Beatty looks like a different player. Right now he’s somebody who’s confident and right now he’s playing very efficient. Austin Johnson, everybody knows what falls on his shoulders this year but he’s certainly improved. He needed to improve the mentality he takes every day.

Q. What can you tell us about Gil Biruta and how he will fit into your scheme this year?

A. The good thing about being on my team, you can ask about every single person on scholarship and what part they’re going to have and everybody is going to have a huge part, including Gilvydas. An athletic and aggressive type who sometimes does things too aggressively and too fast, he plays into how I want to play the game of basketball. He wants to be good, he has a need to be good, and he’s someone who we’re going to count on a lot. He will play a lot of minutes, that’s for sure. He has tremendous energy. Sometimes he plays fast instead of having a purpose all the time, but we’re getting through to him. He’s going to be really good here at Rutgers. I don’t think I could have chosen a forward any better.

Q. At Robert Morris your teams were known for their defensive ball pressure and pushing the pace. Is that the kind of style you’ll be implementing here or are we going to see something different based on the personnel you have?

A. There will be some of that same aggressive, more half-court attacking the ball, don’t let the offense dictate to you, try to dictate to the offense. But we just don’t have the depth and athleticism and length where you can get away with that style in the Big East. We’ll be switching defenses and doing different things to make up for it.

Q. The day you were introduced you mentioned Rutgers’ field-goal percentage defense as the most troubling statistic. How much of your practice time will you be spending on defense?

A. Seventy percent. Usually in the past it’s been 90 percent. More troubling was their field-goal percentage offense and their assists per game. When I started delving into it and really preparing, watching film and trends of the last five years, all of a sudden I had cold sweats at night that we were never going to score. So I’m working more on offense than I’ve ever done as a head coach. Most individuals gave good effort; I just don’t know they were always there for their teammates.

Q. Generally speaking about your recruiting, how have you been able to sell Rutgers basketball so well despite the program’s unsuccessful recent history?

A. It starts with the relationships you’ve build the rest of your life. We’ve been able to be successful because we didn’t have to start from ground zero with a lot of these talented student-athletes. We had a previous relationships with their AAU staffs, high school coaching staffs or with somebody in the community. Then you sell playing time and you sell the vision of where the program is going. The vision is going to happen. If you don’t believe 100 percent in what you’re trying to do it’s not going to come true. It’s the same thing I told Robert Morris three years ago—dominating the league, becoming a Gonzaga or Davidson of low- or mid-majors. It’s the same thing here, competing every year for a Big East championship, bringing pride back into Rutgers basketball. We sell them on not just being able to wave a towel but playing 20, 25 minutes a game. This generation of basketball players, they don’t want to sit and wait for their turn. They want to get in and do this right away. One thing we have is playing time.

Q. Is this what you expected from your assistant coaches or have they gone even above and beyond what you had hoped when you assembled the staff?

A. This is what I expected. I knew they had such strong relationships, so I expected them to hit the ground running.

Q. Does your recruiting success have any impact on this year’s team?

A. I would hope so in the sense that it’s creating a buzz around campus and our fan base. But we have a season to play. A reporter interviewed Dane Miller and the first question he asked was if Dane was excited to play with the 2011 class. Dane was offended by that and I want him to be offended. We don’t want to wave any white flags this year. We use it as motivation, people talking about 2011. What about this group, this senior class?

Q. Your thoughts on your non-conference schedule, which was put together by the previous staff with the idea that this year’s team going to be loaded for bear?

A. I added Miami to the mix, but everything else was done. I’m looking forward to going into a schedule that helps us prepare for the Big East. It will help us locate what our weaknesses are so we can attack them. Playing at home 11-12 times against opponents that can’t help you find weaknesses may not be a great formula. We’re awfully thin this year as far as our numbers and we’re going to be incredibly young next year, but there are going to be things we’ll have to work out.

Q. Rutgers fans are excited about the long-term prospects of the program but expectations are low for this season. What would you say about why they should come out to the RAC this year and not wait for the 2011 class to arrive?

A. The foundation started the day I got here, building that level of demand on how we play. You’re going to see that, you’re going to see a team that cares for one another, a team that has an urgency and energy to win basketball games. You’re going to see a team that has an edge. I want us to stop being so damn nice. We get scored upon, I want us to take that personally. We lose a game I want us to take it personally. I want a team with that passion and that edge.